Pipe fitting



P 1947- P. D. MERRILL 2,427,994

PIPE FITTING Filed Nqv. 5, 1943 R4TTEe50/v 0. Maze/Z4.-

IN V EN TOR.

Z2 I 22 WZM-Mab Patented Sept. 23, 1947 PIPE FITTING' Patterson D. Merrill, South Bend, Ind., assignor to M. B. Skinner Company, South Bend, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application November 5, 1943, Serial No. 509,095

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in branch pipe fittings used to connect a branch pipe to a main to establish a service connection. More particularly, the invention relates to fittings of the type with which drilling means are adapted tween the main and the branch.

drilling operation.

sure therein.

mediate and high pressures.

of such drill guides must be available.

different sizes.

5 to be connected for the purpose of tappin or aligning drive-fit in a seat provided therefor in drilling the main to establish communication bea p p fitting.

A further object is to provide a drill guide ele- The operation of drilling to form an opening in ment adapted to be mounted in a seat of a pipe a pipe, by means of drilling apparatus mounted fitting, with a drive fit, which has a lead portion upon a fitting entails the use of a comparatively fitting snugly and slidably in said seat to guide the lon shaft whic mount a 1 111 and extends from entrance of said element in said seat, and a lockthe drilling apparatus and through the fitting to ing portion having a tight driven fit in said seat. engage the pipe. The length of this unit, the iner objects Will be ppa ent from the deaccessibility thereof Within the apparatus and the scription and appended claims. fitting, and the action of the drill upon a convex n the drawin p pe Surface, all tend to make the drilling opig.1is atop p View o tt eration difiicult. This is especially true in case Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on where the cutting element is an annular cutter line f which ha no centeringpoint to Steady t e1en- Fig.3 is a perspective view of one form of drill gated unit during the first part of the cutting or de t.

P i i of i1 teadying Referring to the drawing, which illustrates the or guiding means ithi t fitting as m preferred embodiment of the invention, the nutrated in my copending application, Ser N meral l0 designates a pipe main with which a 393,541, filed May 15, 1941, solves this problem, branch p H s t e ecte y e s o a but introduce othe problem Thus, it is desirpipe fitting l2, here illustrated as a saddle couable to manufacture a fitting of given size which p is usable on pipe lines without regard to the pres- Pipe fitting Comprises an o te 01 H- In th words, a given fitting cave-convex saddle plate [3 from the center of should be applicable on i lines f 1 interwhose convex side projects an integral drill tube The pressure in M, and a branch connector l5 projects laterally the line determines the size of the opening formed from and i formed ntegrally with tub l4 and in the main to establish communication with the communicates therewith at opening 15'. Saddle connected branch through t fitting Thereplate l3 preferably has a shallow central recessf re, preformed drill guides must either :be c n- I6 in its inner face adapted to receive an annular structed t b a m away to provid a guide f pipe-engaging gasket I'I substantially concentric proper size before the pipe can be drilled, or a with tube selection of fittin t n diflere t Sizes opposite ends of the saddle plate. A pair of similar draw parts each including an arcuate plate In th instant i v ti these problems are 40 portion IS, a transverse pintle portion 20 at one solved by fabricating a, st n construction f end of the plate carried by spaced arms 2| propipe fitting for a given pipe size whic i l Viding apertures therebetween t receive the a guide-receiving seat of standard size, and prohooks and an pe u ed r 2 at the other viding therewith a set of drill guides having e f the p te, e hooked on ook po tion standard outer dimensions and guide passages of 5 A w t 23 xtends through the apertured Thus the fitting can be condiears 22 and mounts a nut 24 by ns of which tioned or prepared on the job with a drill guide the fitting parts can be drawn tig t y about t of desired size by simply selecting a drill guide main 10' to effect a fluid-tight seal of gasket l1 element havin a drill guide passage of proper t t a size, and inserting it in the pipe fitting prior The branch connector tube I5 is preferably to application of the fitting to the pipes. provided with a compression fitting for efifecting Therefore, the primary object of the invena sealed connection with branch pipe ll. tion is'to provide a guide element having a guide lustrated, branch pipe ll fits within tube l5, passage of selected size which may be inserted which has an internal annular shoulder 25 intermediate its ends for centering the pipe thereaccurately easily and quickly in a receiving seat 2 of a pipe fitting in which a pipe-drilling apparatus is operable and in a position adjacent the pipe.

A further object is to provide a drill guide element having an accurate self-centering and self- Hooks 18 may be formed at the As il- 

